Stand By You Forever
by Stratagem
Summary: Long after the war and when they're in their twenties, Pidge and Lance get married and, a few years later, eventually start a family. With four kids, a big house, and a space dog, what could go wrong? A set of far-future post-war Plance family fluff fics.
1. Face the Day

Disclaimer: I don't own Voltron!

A/N: This is a far-future post-war Plance family AU. Pidge and Lance got married when they were 22 and 24 respectively, started a family when Pidge was 25, and now they have four kids: Kai (9), Garett (8), Ferro (8) and Lis (6). Ferro was adopted, and he just happens to be an alien. This short story is definitely going to be a part of a big series…

* * *

 **Face the Day**

The early morning quiet of the Alvarez-Holt household was destroyed by a delightful homemade alarm clock that sounded like a tortured trumpet playing its last high notes accompanied by its best friend, a dying foghorn. The family space dog Mulligan joined in with his melodious howling while a few of the other pets joined in with screeches, whistling, and piping.

Upstairs, Lance rolled over and tickled the back of Pidge's neck. "Go deal with your son."

"Are you talking about the dog or the kid?" she mumbled. Scooting away from him, she grabbed a couple pillows and stared to pile them on top of her head.

"Oh, no, you don't," Lance said, leaning over her and tugging at one of the pillows, "You're the one that keeps encouraging these Rube Goldberg nightmares, so you can clean up the aftermath."

Pidge pushed the pillow against Lance's face and sat up, poking him in the chest. "And you're the one that keeps bragging about your inventor son and buying the connector sets, you enabler."

Lance grinned. "He gets it from you, which means it's still your fault. So, tag, Katie, you're it." He stole a kiss from his wife, and then jumped out of bed and dashed for the bathroom before she could retaliate. Morning-time Pidge was a lot slower than regular Pidge, but her level of stubbornness never changed.

Grumbling, she flopped back against the mattress and waited for the kids to show up. It was a given under the circumstances. This time she heard them before she saw them.

"Turn it off, Kai!"

"You're murdering our ears! Especially mine. This is hearing homicide!"

"Kaaiiiii!"

The door opened, and Mulligan trotted in, Lis and Ferro rushing in right behind him. The massive dark green dog-like creature jumped up onto the mattress, making it dip under his weight. He put his head in Pidge's lap and looked at her with his pitiful indigo eyes, obviously disliking the noise as much as the kids did. Smiling, she ruffled his fur and scratched behind his short little horns.

"Mom, Kai won't turn off his alarm, and it's going to kill Ferro's ears," Lis said dramatically. She climbed up onto the head and draped herself over Mulligan's back. "And he needs his ears."

Pidge looked over at Ferro, who was holding stuffed animals to his impressively large ears. It had taken her a long time to decide on what his ears looked like, but she had come across a picture of a Townsend's big-eared bat and settled on the comparison. They were very flexible and right now he had them folded down help to muffle the noise.

"It's not going to kill his ears," Pidge said, reaching over to affectionately brush her fingers through her daughter's dark brown curls. Tiny and petite, Lis had Lance's darker skin and his family's naturally curly hair but she took after her mother in the rest of her looks. Her eyes were darker than Pidge's though, a deep, warm brown.

"Feels like ear death," Ferro said. He sprang up onto the bed and burrowed into the pillows, covering himself until only the golden puff on the end of his long tail was visible.

The alarm cut off abruptly, leaving only the sound of Garett's disgruntled pets. Still, it was so much better than the siren that Pidge, Ferro, Lis, and even Mulligan gave a collective sigh.

Ferro's teal and gold head popped out of his makeshift pillow fort, his almond-shaped maroon eyes trained on Pidge. "Is it over?" Ferro was a Kyfrin, so he looked a little different than the rest of the family. He had short teal fur that was striped with gold and dappled with white spots. He also happened to be the tallest of the kids even though he was technically the second youngest.

"Seems like it," Pidge said. She yawned and leaned into Mulligan, finding it hard to wake up even though it would be impossible to go back to sleep now that the kids were awake. Plus, she needed to have a serious talk with her and Lance's oldest about his alarm clock that had been forged in the sinister fires of family disturbance.

Now that the alarm was off, they could all hear Lance singing away in the shower. It was a Spanish pop song, and Lis immediately started humming along with her dad's honestly fantastic voice.

The sound of scuffling drifted into the room, clashing with the song, and Pidge guessed that Kai and Garett were wrestling their way up their stairs. Sure enough, the two of them tumbled into the room, rolling across the carpet as Kai tried to put Garett into an headlock.

"Get him, Garett!" Ferro cheered, jumping up to stand on the mattress.

"Dumb," Lis said, not bothering to move from her comfy spot against Mulligan's back.

"Break it up, this isn't a wrestling ring," Pidge said, "We haven't even sold tickets." They bumped into the dresser, almost knocking off a lamp. She picked up a pillow and tossed it at her sons, catching Kai in the side. The two of them broke apart and Garett snatched up the pillow to hit Kai a second time.

"I'm going to break something, like that stupid alarm clock," Garett said, frowning at his brother, "You woke up every animal I have! And the Reastruis needs to rest during the day, it just went to sleep!"

"Then your weird bird can go right back to sleep," Kai said, waving away his brother's concerns. A huge grin scrawled across his face as he looked at his mom. "It's awesome, look, it got everyone awake! And it started breakfast."

"Wait, that thing started the coffee pot?" Pidge asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yep," Kai said proudly. Tall and lanky for his age, Kai had messy brown hair with a slightly red tint to it, a charming crooked smile, and dark blue eyes. His skin tone was somewhere directly between Pidge and Lance's, but he had a nice smattering of freckles across his nose and arms.

Pidge glanced over at Garett. "Sorry, kiddo, you're not allowed to destroy it just yet."

"That's not fair, using Mom's weakness," Garett snapped at Kai.

A little shorter than his brother, Garett had wavy light brown hair, Lance's blue eyes, and a skin tone that was a few shades darker than Kai's but not quite the same color as Lis'. He had a few band-aids on his arms and legs from encounters with wild animals, and he had a scar on his right cheek from a gouge he had gotten from a grumpy clawed critter a few months ago.

"If it catches the kitchen on fire, then we'll talk," Pidge said.

Now that the sparring match was over, Ferro sat down beside her and leaned into her side. She looped an arm around him, giving him a hug. Ferro had been affection-starved when they adopted him three years ago, so they all did their best to make him feel extra loved.

Garett and Kai continued to bicker even as they climbed up onto the bed and settled in beside their siblings, mom, and space dog. Ferro added in his own opinions on the alarm clock, ones that Kai didn't want to hear, and Lis dropped off asleep again, showing off her skill in the I-Can-Sleep-Anywhere-Anytime area.

The door to the bathroom flew open, letting out a cloud of steam that wafted out, heralding Lance in a pair of jeans but currently shirtless. He had a towel wrapped around his head, and he was whistling. The fact that all the kids and the dog were piled on the bed didn't faze him, even when Garett and Kai both started fussing all over again now that they had a new and potentially sympathetic audience.

"Dad, tell Kai that he can't have that stupid alarm clock."

"Dad, tell Garett that he's a Luddite!"

"Kai, don't use that word in this house," Pidge scolded, as if calling someone anti-technology was worse than any actual curse word.

"Besides, it's too early for SAT word insults," Lance said, "So shush your faces."

Grabbing a shirt from the floor, he yanked it on before dropping down beside Pidge, gathering her to him as he settled against the headboard. He pressed a kiss to her neck and then leaned forward to grab Ferro. He plunked his son down on his other side then snagged Lis. He gently tugged her closer, making sure to not wake her up, before pulling both Garett and Kai over by their ankles. Once he was properly surrounded, he smiled and let his head rest against Pidge's. "This is better."

For a blissful moment, everyone sunk into the comfort of their family. Sure, sometimes they fought and argued, sometimes they had bad days, but they were still close-knit and loved each other.

"You guys do know it's almost eight o'clock, right?" Kai said.

And the peaceful moment exploded as Lance and Pidge realized that it was Monday, not Sunday, and they were running behind by thirty minutes and everyone was going to be late.

So much for a lazy morning.


	2. Drowning It Out

Disclaimer: I don't own VLD.

A/N: Slightly older Plance, somewhat angsty. Very short. War is hard. Inspired by "Infinite (Something Loud)" by Megan Davies. This is set pre-kids, back before they were even married.

* * *

 **Drowning It Out**

Lance winced as he walked toward the Green Lion's hangar, the bass notes of a song reverberating through his bones. Was Pidge trying to blow out everyone's eardrums? He guessed that she was trying out some kind of musical warfare so she could blast the Galra later. But yeah, this was a bit excessive, seeing how he could hear the Beatles wailing about Jude all the way from the rec room…

He just wanted to nap after that last battle. Catch at least an hour's sleep before they got attacked again. The Galra sure weren't letting them get any rest lately, and Lance was starting to wonder if setting up a cot in Blue's cockpit might not be a bad idea.

The hangar doors slid open, and he was nearly knocked over by a wave of sound. He clapped his hands over his ears and frowned as he stepped inside, looking for the castle's resident tech geek.

"Pidge!" he yelled over the noise, or at least tried to. Instead his voice was lost in the melody. He could hardly hear himself, so he doubted Pidge even knew he was there. He glanced up at Green and tilted his head to the side, wondering where his girlfriend was.

Lance stomped over to Pidge's work station, ready to start up a royal fuss about how his ears were going to explode if she didn't turn the music down. He stopped short when he saw her socked feet barely peeking out from under her work bench. Pidge tended to hide in tiny places when she was feeling down, like small spots made her feel safer.

Kneeling down, he got a better look at her. She was pressed against the back of her hiding spot, her arms looped tightly around her legs, holding them to her chest. Her face was hidden against her knees, her hair hanging loose and messy around her shoulders.

Lance automatically reached for her, his hand brushing against her hair to let her know he was there. He didn't want to scare her. She jerked her head up, and he got a quick look at the tears sliding down her cheeks before she buried her face in her arms again.

He crawled into the small space beside her, somehow fitting his lanky self beneath the work bench. Gently he slid her into his lap and wrapped his arms around her, holding her close. He pressed his forehead to her coarse hair and nuzzled her.

"I've got you," he said, wondering if she could hear him.

Time passed and the shudder of her sobs died down. Eventually Pidge shifted and the music dropped away. She leaned back against him, her head bumping against his chest. "I needed the noise. I couldn't stop thinking about stuff...it was loud, wasn't it? Sorry…"

"Don't be sorry." They all had their ways of coping. Hunk's were cooking and playing board games with Coran, Keith sparred and read alien sci-fi novels, Shiro would stargaze and talk with Allura. Lately Lance's coping method had been napping. Sometimes Pidge was so tough, he forgot that she was also a worrier and could get stuck in doomsday loops, where she just thought about everything that could go wrong. She was good at breaking those loops or reasoning her way out of them, but sometimes… "I should've checked on you earlier."

Pidge bumped the top of her head against his chin. "But that'd interfere with your beauty rest."

Ah, an attempt at humor. "I'm so handsome, my looks can handle a little less rest."

That got a half-hearted laugh out of her. "Oh so humble."

Lance squished her to him. "Next time, come get me. Okay?"

Pidge sighed and rubbed his arm, leaning over to rest her cheek against his shoulder. "Yeah. Yeah, all right."


	3. It's The Great Pumpkin

Disclaimer: I don't own VLD!

A/N: The Plance Family needed to go to the pumpkin patch. Plance kid ages are as follows: Kai (8), Garett (7), Ferro (7), and Lis (5). Ferro is an adopted alien, and they love him very much.

* * *

 **It's The Great Pumpkin**

"You know I can make as many pumpkin holograms as you want."

"It's not the same, babe."

"Right, it's safer."

The pumpkin patch sign loomed over Pidge, the crooked lettering an obvious foreshadowing of bad things to come. They were back on Earth for the weekend to visit with her parents and do normal Halloween things like an average family. Not a universe-protecting one. On New Altea, Halloween existed, but it wasn't nearly as big a deal as it was on Earth. Since she and Lance both loved Halloween and thought it was important that the kids experienced Earth traditions, they always dragged their family home for the holiday, even though it meant pulling the kids out of school for a few days.

However, while Pidge liked pumpkin carving, something had gone wrong every single time they tried to do it with the kids. Back when it had just been her and Lance, pre-kids, they had made the most spectacular Jack-o-Lanterns ever, but everything had changed when Kai had been born. It was like his birth had brought a pumpkin-carving curse upon them.

She stuffed her hands into her hoodie pocket and glanced over at where the kids were playing on a pile of hay bales. Ferro launched himself to the top of the bales and reached down to pull Lis up with him while Garett struggled to climb after them. Kai was watching all of them, playing the part of the dutiful older brother even though it looked like he wanted to somehow sabotage Garett, judging by the mischievous glint in his dark blue eyes.

Lance looped his arms around Pidge, leaning down to rest his chin on the top of her head. "You're being paranoid. Cease and desist. It's gonna be fine."

"You said basically the same thing last year, and we wound up in the hospital because Garett accidentally tripped and stabbed you."

Lance's weight dropped further onto her, and she had to brace herself as he used her as a leaning post. "That was an accident, like you said."

"And the year before that, Kai almost caught himself on fire—"

"Which is why he's on permanent firestarter ban. Once we have enough kids to form Voltron, Kai's definitely not going to be the red one."

"Don't get started on that again," Pidge said, rolling her eyes. Lance had been making comments about increasing their family by one ever since he realized they almost had a complete Voltron starter pack.

"You know you want one more," he said, his hand sliding to rest over her stomach, " _Katie_ …"

Oh, crap, nope. Whenever he said her name like that, soft and low and accented, she couldn't decide whether to punch him or make out immediately. And since they were standing in front of a pumpkin patch with a bunch of other families, she settled for jabbing him in the side. "Not now."

Lance whined and pulled back, grumbling about mistreatment. "Harsh."

"We need to focus," Pidge said, putting her hands on her hips. She looked over at her self-made horde again and waved at Kai. "Wrap it up, let's go!"

"Come on, almost-Voltron!" Lance said, smirking at Pidge and ducking out on the way as she tried to swat at him, "Daylight's wasting and pumpkins need to be picked."

The kids made their way over, Garett leading the pack as Kai and Ferro helped Lis down from the hay bales. Garett collided with Pidge's side and hugged her, which meant he wanted something. Garett just wasn't as cuddly as the other three, which was sort of ironic seeing how the guy he was named for was super affectionate. Honestly, Garett's personality was more like Keith's than Hunk's.

"They have puppies here."

"Really? Isn't that nice," Pidge said, going to mom route and feigning ignorance, "Maybe they'll let you play with them if you ask politely."

"Can we have one?" Garett said, "Please?"

"No way," Lance said, "If I can't have a fifth kid, you can't have a puppy."

Pidge made a face. "Those are two extremely different things, Lance!"

"So does that mean I get a puppy?" Garett asked.

"No, no puppies and no babies," Pidge said, shaking her head at both of them. As if they weren't busy enough. Luckily their fellow paladins didn't mind helping out with the kids sometimes, and all of them were willing to babysit. It made things easier with all of that built-in support, but still, another kid and a puppy? Not now. Besides, Garett would doubtlessly find something else to adopt, something she and Lance wouldn't be able to say no to. This was just a temporary fix.

The other three wandered over, smiles on their faces and hay in their hair. Or all over them in Ferro's case, thanks to all of that fur. Lance leaned over and plucked some hay from Ferro's head. "Wow, kiddo, are you going for the scarecrow look?"

Ferro brushed at the hay and shook his head. "It's itchy."

"We'll get it all off, but you're going to have to take a bath when we get home."

"Aw…"

Lis wrapped an arm around Lance's leg, her curly brown hair sporting almost the same amount of hay as Ferro's fur. "Daddy, I want a little pumpkin. Like this." With one hand still holding onto his jeans, she put her other hand close to the ground. "I wanna name it Uncle Coran."

"Okay, but why?" Lance asked, trying not to grin.

Lis smiled. "Because it's orange."

"Oh…Oh!"

Both Lance and Pidge laughed, imagining that the Altean would probably be proud of his little namesake once he found out. They were going to have to send him a video of the pumpkin, especially since they were now going to have to carve a mustache into it. There was no other option. He would see it on Halloween anyways since all of team Voltron was supposed to be coming to Earth for the day, but still, he would appreciate the video.

"We should go pick out pumpkins before all of the good ones are taken," Kai said. He looked at Ferro and Garett, and the three of them nodded at each other before taking off through the entrance at a run.

"Hey, slow down!" Lance yelled after them. They obeyed but kept moving forward in exaggerated slow-mo, the younger two copying Kai. Lance scooped up Lis and settled her onto his hip before taking Pidge's hand. "Come on, babe. Let's go break this pumpkin curse."

"Why did you have to mention it? I finally stopped thinking about it—"

Lance tugged her hand, dragging her into the pumpkin patch. "What could go wrong?"

Pidge groaned. "Really? Did you really just say that…"

Yep, they were doomed.


	4. Coran Coran the Pumpkin Man

Disclaimer: I don't own Voltron!

A/N: This family really is cursed when it comes to pumpkin-carving. Just saying, maybe Lance and Pidge should try getting them to use paints next year. Also, dad!Lance has scruff, it is law.

* * *

 **Coran Coran the Pumpkin Man**

"Don't touch anything."

Pidge stood at the end of the table, her arms crossed over her chest as she surveyed her four little monsters and her over-eager husband. Kai had one hand over a carving tool, his fingers twitching toward the cheap plastic saw. Across from him, Garett was busy petting Mulligan and his grandparents' dog Archimedes, so he hadn't touched any of the supplies yet.

Ferro was perched crosslegged on top of the table, his pumpkin resting on his legs, but he did put down the spoon he had been drumming on the table with. In Lance's lap, Lis was making content little humming noises, dark brown eyes trained on "Uncle Coran," the small pumpkin she had picked out.

Lance gave Pidge a long-suffering look. "Babe…" Obviously he was ready to start carving pumpkins.

"Before anyone slices themselves or someone else up slasher style, we're going to go over the rules," Pidge said, her tone unyielding. "One, no one besides me or Dad touch the actual knives. Two, all of the tools stay at the table. Three, share. Four, no one uses the firestarter except for me."

Lance raised his hand. "Dad formally objects to rule four."

Pidge flicked her eyes toward Lance and then looked at the kids. "Does anyone second that motion?"

"Nope," Kai said, smirking.

"Sorry, Dad, you're not good with fire," Garett said, "Remember the campfire last year? And the tent?"

"Ditto that," Ferro said. Garett absently held up a hand, and Ferro high-fived him automatically.

"Poor Mr. Tent," Lis said, shaking her head. At the end of the table, Pidge had on an expression that was identical to Kai's little smirk.

"You get no say, you almost set yourself on fire," Lance said, pointing a finger at his eldest before turning to the middle two, "And you guys know that was an accident. A one time event."

Garett shrugged. "So was Kai almost catching on fire, and you guys don't ever let him touch matches or firestarters or anything. Not even steel wool and batteries."

"Which is the best way to make a fire ever," Kai said, making a face.

"You never should have showed him that," Lance said, looking over at Pidge.

She grinned. "It was educational." Besides, how cool was it that steel wool and a 9V battery made fire? It looked awesome, too.

"In any case, I'm an adult, and I get fire privileges," Lance said, shaking his head at Pidge, "I know where the matches are."

"Are you sure about that?"

"Katie, what did you do with the matches?"

Pidge gave an evil grin, getting a glare from Lance.

"Could we get Uncle Keith to use Red's fire beam?" Ferro said, his eyes lighting up.

"Only if you want every single pumpkin and the house scorched to a crisp. Which your grandparents would love." Lance waved a hand at Pidge's parents' house, where they were staying for the week. Sam and Colleen were currently at work, so that meant Lance and Pidge and the kiddos had the place to themselves for the afternoon. "And Keith's back on New Altea anyways."

"He could wormhole here," Ferro said.

"I don't want Uncle Keith to burn up Uncle Coran," Lis said, her lower lip poking out. She reached out for her pumpkin and tried to pull it closer.

Lance laughed and kissed the top of her head. "No one's burning up any pumpkins. Coran Coran the Pumpkin Man is going to be just fine."

"All right, does everyone remember the rules?" Pidge raised an eyebrow, waiting for any more objections or comments. When no one said anything and Lance gave her the thumbs up, she activated her bayard from its civilian carry position, turning it into a laser-knife. "Hand me that pumpkin, Ferro."

"That's cheating," Lance said as he picked up a regular knife. Technically, he could turn his own bayard into a sword, but that would be less efficient than a knife. Pidge had always been able to turn her bayard into smaller weapons. Lance slid Lis' pumpkin closer and started cutting around the stem at the top.

"You're just jealous that you don't have a mini-lightsaber," Pidge said, bringing up an old teasing point. When Pidge had first formed the laser-knife back when they were younger, Lance had practically thrown a fit he was so jealous of it. At least until Shiro learned to form a full-fledged lightsaber type sword, and then all of Lance's jealously had gone toward that. Eventually Lance had learned to form a sword instead of a long-range weapon, but it had wound up being a very pirate-y scimitar.

"No, I just preferring doing things the traditional way."

Pidge snorted. "Since when?"

"Since today."

"Can I put on the Halloween playlist?" Kai asked, holding up Pidge's cell, "For mood?"

"Sure," Pidge said, "Go for it."

The Ghostbusters theme song started playing a minute later, and everyone started singing along except for Ferro, who instead played along with a pair of spoons. Pidge and Lance cut holes in the tops of all of the pumpkins and the kids scooped out the guts, creating a pile on the table. Kai and Garett started tracing patterns on their pumpkins, Kai intending to create a pumpkin zombie while Garett was going for a T-Rex. Between the two of them was a stack of little saws and punching tools and a bunch of things that Pidge was certain were going to cause damage. She kept close to the two of them, expecting some kind of medical emergency to go down.

Lance helped Lis draw Coran's signature mustache on her pumpkin and let her color it in so she felt like she got to do something. She was too young to use most of the carving tools. Pidge worked on her own pumpkin, turning it into a Death Star, while Lance kept trying to decide exactly what he wanted. Ferro was simply punching holes in his pumpkin with a metal skewer, and Lance was trying to keep a close eye on him while still managing his youngest.

"This is coming out lopsided," Kai said, frowning at his pumpkin. He set down the ruler he had been using to measure things and pressed a thumb into the pumpkin.

"It's a zombie, shortstuff," Lance said, "It's supposed to be lopsided. Maybe his eye is melting down his face."

"But this would be his eye socket, not his eye," Kai said, "So that's doesn't work."

"I think it looks okay," Ferro said.

"It's…nope. I need a new pumpkin," Kai said, eyeing Lance's untouched pumpkin.

Lance grabbed his pumpkin. "You have one already. It looks good like that!"

"It's not going to be perfect," Pidge said, "It doesn't need to be." She reached over like she was going to ruffle Kai's hair, and he dodged her gooey pumpkin-covered hand.

"Mom!"

"C'mere, my pumpkin child," she said, "You'll smell like Halloween!"

"Mom! No!" Kai took off and Pidge raced after him, hand outstretched. Lance smiled and went back to work on Lis' pumpkin, carefully carving out Coran Coran the Pumpkin Man's mustache. He didn't notice when it got quiet, the chatter of the kids petering out.

There was a little tug on his shirt sleeve. "Daddy."

"Yeah, baby?" he asked, not looking up.

"Daddy, Ferro's stuck."

"Huh?" That made Lance lift his head and let out a cry. "Ferro!"

"It's not my fault," Garett said, holding up his hands and backing away from the table.

His sweet son had a pumpkin for a head. Ferro had taken his pumpkin and somehow managed to stuff his head into the hole in the top of it. So now he had a Jack-O'Lantern face and looked like something out of a campy Halloween movie.

"Dad!" Ferro's voice was muffled by the pumpkin, but at least it had all those little holes in it. He wasn't going to suffocate. "I can't—it won't come off!"

"Crap, crap, crap," Lance said, reaching out and grabbing the pumpkin.

"I didn't do it!" Garett exclaimed.

"You dared me," Ferro said pitifully.

"Don't you dare go anywhere, Garett," Lance said, shooting him a fierce dad-frown. "Sit." He looked around the yard, realizing that Pidge had disappeared, probably chasing Kai to the front yard. Okay, so, he had a couple minutes to get this off before she came back and was vindicated in her worries. "Ferro, you're going to be okay." He pulled on the pumpkin and Ferro squirmed, grabbing it and yanking it back down.

"You're hurting my ears, that hurts." His little claws dug into the pumpkin and his tail puffed up.

"Oh boy…" Lance leaned back and looked at the pumpkin, considering his options.

"Want me to get Mom?" Garett asked.

"No!" Lance said, jerking his hand to the side like he was cutting that suggestion in half, "I said don't move."

"I don't like it," Lis said, tilting her head to the side as she looked at her brother.

"Me neither," Lance said, "Ferro, tiger, can you squish your ears?"

"Not the bottom," he said, "It's squishing them."

"I can't believe you put this on your head—"

"Ferro!" Pidge's voice cut across the yard as she and Kai came back through the gate, Kai's hair slicked back with pumpkin goo since she had tagged him. Her light brown eyes widened and her nostrils flared as her hands balled into fists. "Lance!"

"We're going to fix this, babe," he said.

"I told you this would happen! I told you, and you didn't believe me, and then you said, 'what could go wrong' because you just had to jinx it!" Pidge stomped over, Kai trailing behind her with a suppressed amused look on his face.

"Well, no one could have foreseen this one," Lance said, rubbing his chin, getting pumpkin goo in his scruff. "Just come help me get it off him before he turns into the Pumpkin King."

"What? What's a Pumpkin King?" Ferro asked.

"Right now, it's you," Kai said, laughter in his voice. He sat down beside Lis and pulled her into his lap. "How come we have a pumpkin curse?"

"I don't know, just lucky I guess," Pidge said, growling as she inspected the pumpkin on Ferro's head. "I think we're going to need some lard. Or butter. Something so this will slide off easier."

"I'll get it," Garett said, sliding off the bench.

"No, no, you won't," Lance said, shaking his head, "I'll get it. You sit there and stew in guilt for a little bit since you were part of getting your brother into this mess."

"What did you do?" Pidge asked, narrowing her eyes at Garett.

While Garett explained about daring Ferro to put the pumpkin on his head, it came out that Ferro had dared Garett to eat a handful of pumpkin guts. Great, family dare fest. Hopefully it wouldn't make him sick. After Ferro had been buttered up, the pumpkin popped rather easily. Pidge gently rubbed his ears and comforted him as he curled up in her lap and glared at Garett.

"Every. Time." Pidge narrowed her eyes at Lance. "Every. Single. Year."

"I know, honey," he said, "Next year maybe we'll do the holo-pumpkins."

No, they wouldn't. Life was an adventure, and so was having a pumpkin-carving curse.


End file.
